Ranker's Return

Chapter 859

Luke couldn’t stand it for a single moment. “You said it with your own mouth that if I started a war, you would definitely give the secret arts of the ran tribe. Now you are saying you have never done that?!”

He immediately turned to Edward.

The latter said, “I am a person who values trust. I don’t intend to do that. It’s just that... What should I believe in to pass on the secret arts to you? I haven’t heard anything yet.”

“This guy! Are you playing with me right now?”

“Playing? Do you think I am playing? Are the secret arts a joke? Can I pass them on based on unverified facts?” Edward’s words definitely made sense. The secret arts were valuable and not to be handed over lightly. Therefore, he staked the condition as starting the war.

“It is about giving it when I am certain. It isn’t that I won’t give it to you,” Edward appeased Luke gently. It was because he needed to behave moderately. This was a relationship in which he couldn’t strongarm things.

“Who is that human?” Luke ignored Edward’s words and turned to look at Hyeonu, who was standing in the distance.

“He is an adventurer under my hands. His abilities are very good, so I am treating him with respect.” Edward gave Hyeonu a false identity without changing his expression.

‘He is much better than those adventurers.’ Luke compared Hyeonu in front of him to the adventurers he had seen recently. He had encountered hundreds of adventurers, but the one in front of him now looked better than all of them. The difference was that big.

“His abilities... They look great. He isn’t bad.” Luke’s eyes widened as he examined Hyeonu. Hyeonu stood still and didn’t show any reaction.

‘Go away quickly.’

Yet deep down, he wanted Luke to leave quickly.

“If I just have this guy... I think the war will be easy.” Luke didn’t seem to want to go as easily as Hyeonu wished. On the contrary, he was feeling very greedy about Hyeonu.

‘He is talking nonsense.’ Hyeonu lowered his head with a distorted expression. He really didn’t like Luke’s words.

Just then, a voice spoke out to help Hyeonu: “Don’t talk such nonsense. There are many adventurers out there. Gather them yourself. They will flock to you.”

Edward blocked Luke’s words like an iron wall.

‘I can’t put that human being next to him,’ Edward thought. Truth be told, it wouldn’t cause Edward much damage regardless of whether Hyeonu went to Luke’s side. It was just that Hyeonu knew so many things that Edward was reluctant to let this happen.

‘He isn’t one to go anyway....’

Of course, he knew very well that Hyeonu wouldn’t go under Luke anyway. Hyeonu wasn’t the average ambitious man.

‘He is a man who will do anything for his own desires.’

It was hard to even understand why he was active under the emperor right now. Edward wondered if that was even something Hyeonu planned.

“Right now, I can’t give him to you even if I want to. Come back in a fortnight. At that time, I will prepare a technique,” Edward said things he didn’t mean in order to send Luke away.

“A fortnight?” Luke received Edward’s expression with a dissatisfied expression on his face.

“Yes, a fortnight.” Edward didn’t back down though.

‘He won’t be able to lay a hand on me anyway.’

It was Luke who was at a disadvantage as long as the situation was like this. This was a war that was started in order to obtain the secret arts of the ran tribe. He had too much to lose, so he couldn’t lay his hands on Edward just because he didn’t like the situation. The dice had been cast, and at the same time, it was a checkmate.

“Okay, I will come back in a fortnight.” Luke seemed dissatisfied with Edward’s words, but he accepted Edward’s offer. Luke might’ve been the dominant Party A at first, but now Edward was in the position to be Party A. This was how things went.

Edward confirmed that Luke was gone and immediately complained about the latter, “Damn guy. Thinking of other people’s secret arts as his own.”

He didn’t have even the slightest bit of concern.

“Are you really going to hand over the secret arts to him?” Hyeonu asked Edward, who was still swearing.

Edward raised an eyebrow. “I plan to pass on the very basics. That is fine. I am just going to give something I think he already knows.”

He had already sorted through all the secret arts to be delivered and deduced which among the basics would mean nothing if they fell into Luke’s hands.

“I can’t argue with that.” Hyeonu heard Edward’s words and nodded straight away. Even if he did this, Luke wouldn’t be able to say anything to Edward.

“I have to thank you this time.” Edward was truly grateful to Hyeonu.

If it wasn’t for Hyeonu, Edward wouldn’t have been able to go against Luke as he did just now. In addition, there was a strong possibility he might’ve had to give up a secret art after being caught by Luke. Now Hyeonu had brought him the dwarf great tribe chief. The dwarf great tribe chief was the continent’s greatest blacksmith. It meant his ability was more overwhelming than anyone else.

‘The throne in my memory... It will come out better than I expected.’

Edward had Ragand’s memories, so he could be sure of it.

‘There is no difference between the battle gear called the best at the time and the dwarf battle gear kept in the imperial family.’

It was meaningless to compare the difference in the level of technique of the current dwarves to when the ran tribe had a favorable relationship with the dwarves.

“From now on, I will tell you about why I came.” Hyeonu casually ignored Edward’s words. It was just like how Edward ignored Luke’s words.

“Say it. I will listen this time.” Edward pretended to be generous, even though this was the result of Hyeonu’s actions.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Just listen. Don’t you have to listen since I’ve done something for you?” Hyeonu quickly noticed it and pointed it out, immediately firing it back coldly at Edward.

“So what help do you need?” Edward pretended not to know and moved on with the conversation.

“I need to take back some of the battlefield.”

“Take back some of the battlefield? It isn’t that difficult. How many cities should I give away?” Edward easily nodded at Hyeonu’s words.

In any case, the current front line was made at Hyeonu’s request. It would be more comfortable for Edward if the front line became smaller.

“It isn’t something that can be taken back so simply. Even with a single city, I have to produce a scene where you take it and then I take it back a few times.”

“It is a scene to be shown to others anyway... Isn’t it better to take back two or three cities?” Edward didn’t understand Hyeonu’s words. It was important to restore as many cities as possible if Hyeonu wanted to show off to the nobles and the people.

‘In any case, that person knows about his relationship with me, so anything he does is meaningless.’

The emperor, Alexander, wasn’t included in the people they were doing this show for. Alexander was already aware of what Hyeonu was doing. No matter what Hyeonu did, it was pointless in front of him.

“That is why it is so annoying. If people think something is done too easily, they won’t praise the ability of the person who handled things easily. Instead, they will just think it is easy,” Hyeonu explained why things were complicated to Edward, who didn’t understand his intentions.

“Yes, people are like that. They are indifferent to things that aren’t directly related to them. They also don’t admit it properly.” Edward deeply sympathized with Hyeonu’s words. Most of them thought and moved as Hyeonu said.

“I will communicate directly with the adventurers beneath you and proceed with the work.”

“Those guys? Talk about it separately. Cooperate as much as possible.” Edward readily accepted Hyeonu’s offer. In the first place, the northern cities didn’t matter to Edward. There was no point in them existing. Edward’s main focus right now was the undead. The cold and barren north wasn’t a penalty.

Hyeonu immediately turned away from Edward once he achieved his purpose of coming to the north. Just as he was about to walk toward Kapa, he turned back to Edward. “You said you wanted a throne. Is it possible that sitting on the throne has the same effect as gathering magic power or training?”

No matter how he thought about it, Hyeonu felt he knew what Edward’s purpose was in creating a throne.

“How do you know that?” Edward asked with a surprised expression. He never imagined he would hear such a question from Hyeonu as the throne was an object in Ragand’s memory.

“How did I know? I know because I’ve seen something similar.” A corner of Hyeonu’s mouth curled up.

“Have you seen something similar? Where? Where did you see it?” Edward approached Hyeonu with an excited expression.

“Yusma.”

“Yusma? The capital? You mean there is such a thing in the imperial palace right now?!” Edward shouted after hearing Hyeonu’s short answer.

“You don’t know? The throne where His Majesty is sitting... It is exactly the same as what you are trying to build.”

“There was no such thing when I was a prince.”

“Just because it wasn’t there back then doesn’t mean it can’t be there now.”

Hyeonu left Edward alone in his thoughts and walked to the place where Kapa was waiting.

***

The fact that Hyeonu crossed the continent with a dwarf didn’t become a big issue.

People’s attention was focused elsewhere—on the war between the god tribe and the allies of the middle world in the southern part of the East Continent. In particular, attention was focused on the power of the League of Different Species. It was astounding. They paid attention to the appearance of the orc great tribe chief Raccoon, who literally stunned the heavens and moved the ground against Luke—the god of the god tribe.

The reason people focused on Raccoon wasn’t simply because Raccoon was strong. It was because of the other influences that resulted from it. If people were to pick the strongest NPC, they would usually look for Lebron or the emperor. Then Raccoon’s clone made a big impact at Arena Week. After that, the scene of the emperor and Lebron facing the demon king in the demon world also had a huge impact. There were many people who didn’t remember Raccoon’s appearance.

In such a situation, a powerful NPC called Raccoon once again revealed his presence.

“So now there are a lot more people starting off as a different species. There will be more people who change species,” Hyeonu said while picking up the bread that had been placed on the tray.

“Do you think there will be many orcs? The atmosphere is good. Teika showed an overwhelming performance against Luke, so the number will be even bigger.”

That wasn’t all. Ever since becoming an orc, Teika had consistently overwhelmed Rain. He had never been pushed. Teika won several matches, starting with recapturing the second place in the rankings. Naturally, the preference for orcs and other species was bound to rise.

“It has to be moderately balanced. One side shouldn’t be too overwhelming. Otherwise, it won’t be fun. It is fun to fight with all the small ones who are gathered,” Hyeonu said while taking a large bite of the bread.